Shoelace holding devices have had some degree of commercial success over the last twenty years or so basically to prevent the problem of shoelaces coming untied, particularly in childrens shoes. The rather limited commercial success of the shoelace securing devices is largely attributed to their complexity, their difficulty in use and finally their cost.
There is thus the need for a simple, low cost device that is very easy to use that will securely hold shoelaces in place over a considerable length of time without requiring retying.
One of these prior devices is shown in the Mathes U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,839 which discloses a two piece bottom and top plate snap lock device for securing the ends of shoelaces where the bottom and top plates have projections for locking the plates together. The laces extend through a central aperture in the lower plate, then pass through spaced apertures in the top plate, and then pass through grooves in the bottom and top plates respectively. This device, while relatively simple, will not securely lock the laces in position.
There are a plurality of other two piece securing devices for shoelaces that are similar in constructin to the Mathes' shoelace holder including those shown in the Henry U.S. Pat. No. 155,156, in the Henderson U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,697, the Henderson U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,698, the Brodowski U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,135, the Tyrrell, Sr., et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,606, the Shih Chia Mo, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,108,343, the Herlau U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,173, the Boden U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,019, and the Harkavy U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,101.
There are still other shoelace holding devices in which the securing device for one lace is separate from the locking device for the other, but these have been found to be too difficult to use. These two piece or separate lace holding devices are exemplified by those shown in the Potts U.S. Pat. No. 423,808, Kasschau U.S. Pat. No. 542,413, the Tyrrell, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,606, and the Thurston U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,456.
There are further prior art shoelace holding devices that require, in addition to some holding or locking device, that the laces be tied after they have been knotted, but these have been found largely unsuccessful because they require shoelace tying that could be eliminated with a properly designed shoelace lock. Locking devices of this type are exemplified in the Lee U.S. Pat. No. 657,606, the Girtanner U.S. Pat. No. 647,824, the Bennett U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,508, the Sobel, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,151, the Blum U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,138, and the Blum U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,293.
Finally, the Lavielle U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,882 shows an anti-theft device for shoelaces of somewhat similar construction to the shoelace locking devices discussed in detail above.
It is a primary object in the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in shoelace securing or locking devices.